C'mon already with that "no default stuff...."

If I see "There is no default application specified to open the document...." one more time on my screen, I'm going to beat my G3 iBook OS 10.3.9 to death with a baseball bat. I'm generously provided with a window that lists everything and its uncle (seemingly my entire HD) from which to make a selection. I beg anyone out there who knows from all this to clue me in on how to proceed.

I lost the contents of my AddressBook  don't ask me how, the stuff just disappeared, undoubtedly a boneheaded tweak I can't recall making. I've searched everywhere on my HD, for the email addresses I've saved, but no dice. The route I took is seen in the next paragraph. Of the 15 citations on my "find" window, most demand an application to open the selected file.

Finder>File>Find> AddressBook> AddressBook.data (parent - AddressBook - 297 KB)> Choose Application (dead end for me). I have no idea what to do on that window.

This is a lousy explanation, but I don't know how else to explain it. I think the key lies with the final window where all the possible target applications are listed. I doff my hat to you if you figure out what I'm saying.

Thank you for your thought, but forgive me for saying: You're not paying any attention here. If I knew what you were talking about, I wouldn't be at this forum. What the heck is "Text Wrangler" or "Simultron," and "extract by hand"  are you talking Rodeos or what?

Thank you for your thought, but forgive me for saying: You're not paying any attention here. If I knew what you were talking about, I wouldn't be at this forum. What the heck is "Text Wrangler" or "Simultron," and "extract by hand"  are you talking Rodeos or what?

Click to expand...

Text Wrangler and Smultron are text editors that can be used like any other application on Mac OS X. Google them, download them and open the file using them.

Once you have opened the file in one of them you should see some junk and mixed in with that will be the e-mail addresses. Copy the e-mail addresses into another file by hand and your done.

I'm stunned out of my mind  I can't believe what happened when I chose TextWrangler (after I downloaded it without incident) to be the application to open all those closed files  all my addresses spilled out like lava from a volcano. In fact, my new problem is I'm inundated with material beyond my needs. I'm sure when I learn how to manipulate my new found power, I'll be like King Kong snatching airplanes out of the sky.

When I remember all those frustrations of the past when I floundered around like a fish out of water gasping for air because I couldn't open certain files, I almost cry. This has been a revelation to me well beyond my immediate need, I've actually learned something nerdy that will help me down the line time and again.

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